Stacy!

katt3233

I just noticed your sig says "international adoption"! Good luck!! Can you share a bit about the process? We're considering possibly moving toward adoption, but there are so many avenues, it's hard to decide which is right for you.

I'm excited for you

Stacy092306

Thanks!  :-)

We just got started in January.  We were initially going to go with Russia, but the adoption ban to the U.S. in December halted that plan.  I searched around and found that Moldova had just reopened for adoptions. Moldova is a tiny country near Russia, and it was actually part of Russia until 1991. It is the poorest country in Eastern Europe, and it is the number one human trafficking area in the world. The average orphan only lives to be 18 years old in that country. :-(  So, I was really drawn to the program there, and as an added bonus, it is much less expensive than Russia.  The youngest age children are available for adoption is 24 months, as they try to get them adopted within the country first.  We are planning to adopt a little girl between 24-48 months. 

We sent in our initial application, got approved, and then sent in the contract.  We are beginning our adoption education classes now.  We will also begin our homestudy. Once all the paperwork is done (3-5 months), they translate it, and send it to the country.  Since no one has adopted under the new laws, they are just estimating how long they think it will take until referral, but they think 3-9 months.  Once we are referred a child (you receive a picture and some medical information), we can travel to visit the child.  If we wish to adopt, we petition the court.  We return home, then travel back in a few months to go to court and complete the adoption.  Each trip should be about 7-10 days.

 I agree there are a lot of avenues open if you are seeking to adopt.  It really is wonderful that there are so many ways we can create families. 

katt3233

Out of curiosity, when you say "less expensive" how much are we talking? I'm just curious, ballpark. You can PM if you'd rather do that.

Where did you go to get started? Just research online?

gidge

Stacy, that is awesome!  I hope you have a very short wait!

Katt, GL with your decisions on how you guys are moving forward.  I hope whatever you choose goes quickly, too

Stacy092306

Katt, I did all my research online and found a few people to talk to who were adopting from the same country.  The country we are adopting from only has a few accredited agencies they work with right now, so it was easier for me to narrow down the choices.  With domestic, there are so many options.  I think it would be harder to decide. As for costs, it is a little over $20,000 plus travel (we are estimating $10,000-$15,000 for the two trips).  My DH's work will reimburse $5,000, and the tax credit of about $12,970 will help out a lot. If you adopt a child with special needs, Missouri also has an additional tax credit.

katt3233

Stacy092306:

Katt, I did all my research online and found a few people to talk to who were adopting from the same country.  The country we are adopting from only has a few accredited agencies they work with right now, so it was easier for me to narrow down the choices.  With domestic, there are so many options.  I think it would be harder to decide. As for costs, it is a little over $20,000 plus travel (we are estimating $10,000-$15,000 for the two trips).  My DH's work will reimburse $5,000, and the tax credit of about $12,970 will help out a lot. If you adopt a child with special needs, Missouri also has an additional tax credit.

Thank you for the info.  I've heard about the tax credit, but I didn't know exactly how it worked.  I definitely have some research to do.  Keep us updated!